Dirty Dancing

FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT DIRTY DANCING - PAGE 4

At the Movies is a synopsis of motion pictures currently playing at Lehigh Valley movie theaters. Ratings: 4 stars - Excellent. 3 stars - Good. 2 stars - Fair. 1 star - Poor. O P E N I N G T O D A Y - FATAL ATTRACTION - Dan Gallagher (Michael Douglas) is a happily married lawyer and Alex Forrest (Glenn Close) is an unmarried publishing executive who seduces him. For him it's a diversion, but for her the end of the affair is the beginning of a nightmare for everyone.

Several teenagers danced Sunday to the emphatic beats of popular acts such as Rihanna, Gwen Stefani and Christina Aguilera. But instead of mimicking the moves in the videos, the high school students were doing the East Coast swing. They twirled and kicked as their teacher chanted, Shuffle, shuffle, rock step. Whee, said one boy, as he spun under the arm of his partner. The dance lesson, three weeks before the prom, was the idea of Allentown Central Catholic High School senior Brittany Bennett.

From conga to Charleston, disco to dirty dancing, Dance Through Time covers almost everything. The eight-member theatrical dance company presents the dance heritage of the Western World for the last 500 years in a show that incorporates hundreds of authentic costumes. The troupe performs at 8 p.m. Tuesday in Symphony Hall, Allentown. It is the first presentation of the 66th season of the Allentown Community Concert Association. Information: 432-9143.

First came the movie. Made for a mere $5 million, it grossed in excess of $140 million at the box office. Next came the soundtracks, volumes one and two, which together have sold 15 million units. The video, released while the film was still playing in movie theaters, has sold 500,00 copies. And now comes the tour, which features dancers from the film and music provided by thesoundtrack artists. Welcome to the "Dirty Dancing" phenomenon. "It was the right film, at the right time with the right sentiment," said Bill Medley whose recording of the theme song "(I've Had)

The Not Just Rock Expo at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center this weekend celebrates its 25 t h year as the world's largest CD, record, video, music memorabilia and pop culture collectibles store. Hot collectibles include framed, signed photos of Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5 and a candid photo set of the group shooting pool. There are Led Zeppelin tickets from the Chicago stadium concert that was canceled due to John Bonham's death on the day the tickets were to be released.

To the Editor: On hearing that the legislators in Harrisburg passed a bill to clean up the Bring Your Own Booze clubs, I couldn't help but laugh. If ever a place needed cleaning, it is that state house in Harrisburg. What with illegal raises and an illegal budget and closed-door meetings, there is a lot of dirty dancing going on there. Now, Harrisburg wants an increase in the gas tax to pay for snow removal and road repair. Well, what happened to the surplus from last winter, which was rather mild and had very little snow?

In a bit of news that needs no embellishment, Dirty Dancing star Patrick Swayze has been reported as saying that he's back in the recording studio playing around with "rap rhythms." As anyone who grew up in the '80s (or, at least, regularly watches repeats of I Love the '80s on VH1) remembers, Swayze not only swiveled his hips in Dancing, he also sang the hit song "She's Like the Wind" which appeared on the mega-selling soundtrack album. Believe it or not, this wouldn't be the actor's first dip into the rap world.

Nancy Wilson, through stunning vocal textures and intimate rapport with her audience, transformed Kunstplatz into a gigantic, smoky jazz lounge last night. In swinging songs like "It Only Takes A Moment," she'd grab hold of a sustained note, clench it, and then caress it with just the right amount of vibrato. Wilson is a gold medalist when it comes to vocal calisthenics. She reminisced with the crowd about her high school days, saying "I was dirty dancing long before they coined the phrase," then jumped into "You Got the Moves."